Increasing the minimum wage would immediately lift 4.6 million people out of poverty with an additional 6.8 million over time. We should do more to help those struggling and by increasing the minimum wage we can affect immediate change.

We have seen that smart investments in workforce-development initiatives, backed by strong accountability measures, can deliver the kind of broad-based prosperity that Americans remember from the 1990s. It's time for Congress to get back to making those investments a priority.

Today, the value of unions is increasingly being called into question, including by college professors in the classroom. Unions are seen as out-of-date and unnecessary, and the reason for every problem in the business world.

The "American Dream" shines brighter in most eyes that I encounter across continents. I have been traveling since I was 18, and every time USA becomes a topic of discussion, the quest for the stars and stripes (green card) seems to be the aspiration of the world.

Ask most American workers today if they are feeling confident about the American economy, their employment opportunities, and their chance of retirement these days, and most will answer in the negative.

For those of you debating whether or not to Facebook friend your boss, DO IT. Seeing pictures of your boss with a piña colada on a beach is pretty much the equivalent of a 6-year-old seeing their teacher outside of the classroom. "You're a real person?! Who likes to do things besides give me homework?"

The only realistic hope one has of working in a safe industrial environment is to join a union. By and large, union jobs are safer than non-union jobs. And given that a union's sole concern is the welfare of its members, why wouldn't they be?

May Day started here, but then became an international day in support of American workers who were being subjected to brutal violence and judicial punishment. If you get to a point where the existing institutions will not bend to the popular will, you have to eliminate the institutions.